But a Griffin city official said that the document couldnt be found. She was watching a cartoon about a lion. In December, 2014, Jessica had a brief affair and got pregnant again. agent who lived near Spalding County and had worked with Beam on several cases over the years. Shocking body camera footage showing the moment police found a young mother, barely alive and suffering from a gun wound to the head has emerged online. Ad Choices. There is one major problem though. She wore hand-me-downs and liked to take nature photographs. There is no public record of the proceeding, but the grand jury chose not to indict Matthew either for making false statements or for violating his oath. He claimed to have personally insured Beams election. I want you to make sure that Jessica is going to be O.K., because hes going to hurt her.. When Jessica's lawyers pointed out that the emergency room doctors disagreed with the manner in which Jessica was injured, Matthew responded by saying "I only care about the G.B.I. agents asked if she had ever handled Matthews gun. Follow. My dream is that, one day, the Feds show up and say, We want the notebook, he said. This is Jessica Lester's story of survival. Neither Matthew nor Jessica had been given a gunpowder-residue test. She said shed called and they cant find it. No one responded to Marthas letters. Eleven Griffin police officers arrived at the apartment complex. Her marriage had been crumbling, and she and her husband of six months Matthew Boynton, 20 . Can a new approach curb domestic homicide? After informing Jessica Lester that her ex-husband, former GPD officer Matthew Boynton, would not be tried on a felony charge of violating his oath of office because the oath could not be located by that same agency, The GRIP obtained a copy through the submission of an Open Records request to Spalding County Magistrate Court, where the oath of office is administered to new GPD officers. After she came out of her coma, Denise had had to buy her new clothes. Matthew testified that Jessicas grandparents were not blood-related, and could not be trusted with the children. Yates then abruptly ended the interview by stating he would not answer any further questions at that time, but that questions could be emailed to him. Hardheaded. Did this license lead Alex Murdaugh to commit fraud after fraudand then kill his wife and son? I dont doubt the findings of the G.B.I., he told me. The psychologist wrote, of the older son, I asked him if he has been happy or sad. I love you and the boys., A minute later, Matthew responded to a joke from Callaway. Finally, she just said why dont we set up a meeting, so you can ask about whatever you want to know, Lester said. In his personnel file there, a supervisor described him as fiercely loyal but stiff and unwilling to bend. Another officer described him as the type who wants to make ten arrests a day if he could. A senior officer privately advised Matthew, Lighten up a little bit, man.. Custody (full? A few months after the wedding, Denise and Amy went out for lunch. Jessicas grandparents hoped that this development would help their case. Jessicas grandmother, Martha, said that initially she had trusted Wendell Beam, whom her husband had known for years, and the G.B.I.s investigative process. Donate now. Matthew is challenging the ruling in court. I already know it wont.. (Matthews lawyer said, in an e-mail, The ultimate aim of both the GBIs investigation and the grand jurys inquiry was to find the truth. looked into the allegations. When Willey asked Matthew about it, she said, he told her he intended to burn the bag, which Jessica had packed one night when she was planning to leave him. That was it., Lester said she then inquired about a potential alternative to dismissing the charge. Show Of Force The New Yorker | October 7, 2019 A policeman claimed that his wife had attempted suicide. If you have some specific questions you want to aske me, send them to me and Ill respond in writing., When The GRIP said it does not conduct interviews by email, but reiterated there are no objections to recording the interview, Yates responded by saying, Im not really interested in doing an interview with you. Hankinson briefly paused during the hearing to see if any statutes said that attempted suicide was a form of child endangerment. (She and Callaway, Matthews ex-girlfriend, couldnt be reached for this story. We will not be swayed by hearsay, false rhetoric or sensationalism in a manner that would cause harm to the innocent, he wrote. Shortly after the movie started, Matthew said that it was time to go. The older boy was asleep in his bedroom, and the baby was in his own room, crying in his crib. She notified a local truck driver named Will Sanders, who had a reputation as a freelance investigator. 478-993-3053. Thats what I told yourThats what I told the sheriff today, he said. Jessica, at home with her three boys, still has occasional migraines, weakness in her left foot, and lingering amnesia about the night of her shooting. After high school, he worked as a jailer at the Pike County sheriffs office before being hired as a patrol officer in Griffin, the largest city in Spalding County. That is where her memory ends. She was quickly erased from the promotional images and her profile was deleted from the NBC10 website. The Corrupt World Behind the Murdaugh Murders. The inability to pinpoint the source of Gibsons dominanceand of Beams capacity to shield other menseemed only to feed the drama and paranoia. $5 plus $5 parking. The July 29 arrest of former Griffin Police Department Officer Matthew Boynton stemmed from a theft report filed Dec. 19, 2016, by his former wife, Jessica Lester. No further information was forthcoming regarding the missing oath or the potential dismissal that could have resulted had it not been located. Jessica and Jacob have a son together, and their living room and kitchen are arranged like a nursery school, with a poster displaying the ABCs, a whiteboard, and wooden coat hangers shaped like trucks. Two deputies woke Jessicas grandparents and told them that Jessica had committed suicide, using Matthews gun. I would have written, I cant do this anymore comma. She said she would have put a period after the line about taking care of the boys, rather than letting one sentence run into the next. We have an individual that is a parent that attempted to take her own life, his lawyer, Lance Owen, told the judge. The neighbor saw Matthew leaving the apartment for dinner with a coworker. I would have picked something different, Jessica went on. Intent: The Tex McIver Case. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Cond Nast. In September, 2016, the G.B.I. Henderson, the surgeon, had written Lowry a letter stating that whatever investigation there was done into this event in no way reflected our observations in the emergency room.. Eric Paul. Matthew was called in for questioning. Four of her grandchildren had taken target-shooting classes together, but Jessica had refused to participate. I hugged her and said, Its going to be O.K. And she said, No, and looked at her husband. (Amy did not want to comment for this article, explaining in an e-mail, I have tried to remain neutral in this very serious situation.). When the men wanted tea, they just shook their glasses.. The city of Griffin made available only text messages between GPD Chief Mike Yates and Coker, and text messages exchanged by Yates and Diane Martin, also of the GPD. Ive always been such a firm believer in our justice system, she said. Sanders deleted his Facebook account, his primary method of communicating with sources and reporting his findings. S6-E54 Jessica Lester and Matthew Boynton. She said that Matthew told her she wasnt related to them by blood. Her relationship with Matthew is far from perfect and he seems to be pretty controlling. Whitehouse didnt understand why she was being directed to basically a hiding spot. She recorded the conversation on her phone, so that investigators could look for clues if she disappeared. Ashley Dunn, the lead teacher in Jessicas classroom, said, We were all, like, You can do an awesome job working with ten two-year-olds but you cant see your own kids? On weekends, Dunn sometimes asked Jessica to babysit for her own children. On April 25, less than three hours after the Open Records request was received by June Rainey, The GRIP was provided with a copy of Boyntons official oath that had been administered June 15, 2015, by Judge Brennan T. MacDowell. Jessica Lester's friends persuaded her to date Matthew Boynton, a boy in the eleventh grade, by saying, "If you don't like him, you can always break up . In isolated, poor regions of South Carolina, coming from an lite familyoffereda feeling of impunity. RiverHawk News. Newlyweds Jessica and Matthew Boynton seemed like the picture-perfect coupleuntil the young mother is found unresponsive & covered in blood inside her locked bedroom closet. This is Jessica Lester's story of survival. However, with the later discovery of previously-unknown evidence, it evolved into an . Especially because of my children. She started crying. In many other cities, domestic violence seems to be treated as similarly insignificant. . Mathews, the publisher of The Grip and its only reporter, submitted an Open Records Act request to the magistrates court, where judges swear in new officers. (Through his lawyer, Gibson told me that the headlock-and-Taser incident was all in good fun; most of the other allegations were untrue and are otherwise embellished.). The boys expressed fear of having any potential contact with their biological father, the psychologist wrote. Jessica Lester, who at the time was in a coma fighting for her lifea bag she had packed, . Her ex-husband and former Griffin police officer Matthew Boynton was investigated in the case, but was only charged with making false statements and violating oath. Somebody that shoots themself in the head means business. sounds like the same ole corrupt police dept its always been either they are covering up for each other or they dont do their jobs all they worry about are drugs dont get me wrong drugs are bad but it seems like if it doesnt involve drugs they are not interested in it my mother and sister were brutally murdered 30 yrs ago and no one has ever been arrested and when we ask about the case all they want to do is ask the same ole questions we have answered over and over thdy wont tell us what has been done to find out they treated us like crap, [] https://the-grip.net/2018/05/15/missing-evidence-jeopardized-felony-case-against-matthew-boynton-for… []. Only eight were fired. According to the order, which Matthew had petitioned the court to issue, probable cause exists that Family Violence has occurred in the past and may occur in the future. Jessica was ordered to have a psychological evaluation. She walked with a limp and struggled with headaches, short-term memory lapses, ringing in her ears, and numbness on the left side of her body. Delmont, Matthew F . September 30, 2019. Last summer, the sheriff of Los Angeles County, Alex Villanueva, articulated a common justification for not considering domestic violence as a concern: in defending his decision to employ a deputy who had been accused of stalking and physically abusing his ex-girlfriend, he told a local reporter that it was a private relationship between two consenting adults that went bad. The violence was seen as unrelated to job performance, an activity that could be understood only within the context of a relationship. Matthew Boynton allegedly deprived ex-wife Jessica Lester of her belongings and lied to the authorities about doing so, Griffin police Lt. Michael Natale said in a statement. When The GRIP attempted to schedule a time to meet for an interview, Yates said, It wont be tomorrow because my day is pretty much booked, and I dont feel comfortable doing a sit down interview with you unless I have my camcorder going., The GRIP readily agreed to comply with Yates desire to record the interview, but Yates then said, Like I said, you have the same offer you always have. The mother of two young boys, . The new sheriff, Darrell Dix, the former lieutenant in the Griffin Police Department, told me that when he unlocked the doors to the sheriffs office on his first day on the job, January 1, 2017, he found nine industrial-sized trash bags full of shredded papers. The agents who wrote the report seemed indifferent to the dynamics of Jessica and Matthews marriage, as if the subject were a private matter that didnt merit discussion in an official investigation. Matthews childhood dream was to work in law enforcementa career inspired by his grandfather, who had helped bring him up following his parents divorce. This is Jessica Lester's story of survival. Cases like thiswe dont usually have someone to talk to like you, because youre not here, Coleman told her. No signup or install needed. Amy fell to pieces, Denise said. Police departments have become more attentive to officers use of excessive force on the job, but that concern rarely extends to the home. 00:00. The GRIP attempted to interview Yates, but little information was provided.  Jessica and Matthew started dating in high school and she got pregnant ends up with 2 young children, at a young age. I was going to report this, but, like he said, who will they believe? Another woman, who used methamphetamine, said that sometimes Gibson followed her as she drove. Matthew, who had been restored to patrol duty, carried a new service gun and wore his uniform, and was accompanied by Beam. Matthew Boyntom deserves to be thrown in prison and left there to rot. They rented an apartment in Griffin, in a complex of beige two-story buildings surrounding a swimming pool. You cant force her into the truck. (Matthew refused to comment for this story.). Murderific True Crime Podcast. Haha Im sorry I didnt think about that lol, he wrote. That mentality spilled into his home life. It was the first time anyone had spoken with her at length about the night of her injury. Photo credit: The GRIP. Strangers to Ourselves: Unsettled Minds and the Stories That Make Us. Matthew wore a titanium wedding ring with a blue stripe, to signify that he was in law enforcement. Two months later, Jessica was hired as an assistant teacher at a child-care center in Griffin. Listen to this episode from Crimes & Closets on Spotify. Here are out on a good deed . Beam dropped the matter. But he granted full custody to Matthew. Matthew Boynton allegedly deprived ex-wife Jessica Lester of her belongings and lied to the authorities about doing so, Griffin police Lt. Michael Natale said in a statement. Join our naturalist on a short walk and learn about the history of the once-prosperous town of High Falls. Three days after she left the hospital, a deputy from the Pike County sheriffs office delivered a Family Violence Protective Order. It interests me on a psychological level. He had conducted his own canvass of Jessicas apartment complex; retraced Matthews journey to the Waffle House, timing the drive with a stopwatch; and got permission from the new tenants of Jessica and Matthews apartment to inspect the holes in the closet. So there was really no need for me to leave. Jessicas grandmother made an appointment with a lawyer who could help her file for divorce. The Griffin Police Department had not received any complaints about Matthews use of force, but Darrell Dix, a former lieutenant, told me that he and some of his colleagues worried that Matthew had a domineering and one-dimensional approach to his work, which could provoke fights and scuffles. He had not learned that there is a human side of this, too, Dix said. I was wondering why, but then it came to pass that her husband was a police officer and his granddaddy was the sheriff, so I understood.. Anybody that went against him would be eliminated. Whitehouse said that Beam seemed concerned, but he said that shed have to write down her complaint. This is Jessica Lester's story of survival. I figured she was going to retract her statement, he said later. In an analysis of more than two thousand family-court opinions from the past decade, Joan S.Meier, a professor at George Washington University Law School, found that, in sixty-four per cent of cases, courts did not accept the story of a mother who said she or her children had been abused by her husband, even when evidence corroborated the claim. Her parents had abandoned her when she was three, along with her sister and brother, and she grew up on a farm with her mothers adoptive parents. Ive never, ever wanted to hurt myself before., Do you think Matthew was incapable of doing this?, Honestly, I dont know, she said. Karen, I am working on Matthew Boyntons case and according to your check list, there is a lot missing. At first he lied, but within fifteen minutes he acknowledged that hed known about Jessicas bag all along. I dont know what she is capable of, Judge., Jessicas family agreed to pay a hundred dollars every Sunday so that her visits could be observed by another armed law-enforcement agent. Take care of the children. Most important to me. Unnerved, she went out to the porch, where she heard another. Matthew Boynton allegedly deprived ex-wife Jessica Lester of her belongings and lied to the authorities about doing so, Griffin police Lt. Michael Natale said in a statement. He received a text from his wife Jessica that said "I can't do this anymore. Matthew Boynton mug shot made available by the Spalding County Jail, After informing Jessica Lester that her ex-husband, former GPD officer Matthew Boynton, would not be tried on a felony charge of violating his oath of office because the oath could not be located by that same agency, The GRIP obtained a copy through the submission of an Open Records request to Spalding County Magistrate Court, where the oath of office is administered to new GPD officers. Thats something that yall would have to figure out., The G.B.I.s theory of Jessicas shooting depended on her being suicidal, but she gave no indication of being depressed. Jessica was neither dead nor shot in the head. There was a pool there, too.. Jessica Boynton says she's 'free as a bird' . He had looked in the master bedroom, and when he didnt see the baby, who typically slept there, he ran outside. In early May, after three weeks in a coma, Jessica began to regain consciousness. report" 5 . Murderific True Crime Podcast. is going to do it. He believes that the only two people who know the answers are Jessica and Matthew, and Jessica will never be a reliable source, given her traumatic brain injury, and Matthews account cant be trusted. Twice, she later testified, Gibson choked her. She could now recall that after she returned from Walmart she went to her closet to put her shoes on, because she needed to walk the dog.